New E-number: buffered vinegar
Following a positive assessment by EFSA, the additive buffered vinegar has been given its own E-number: E 267.
The E-number is included in Part C, Group I of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008.
Evita De Mey
Use
Buffered vinegar may now be used as a food additive "quantum satis" (the amount necessary). The additive may also be added to the following foods (listed in Annex II, part E):
- Mozzarella,
- Whey cheese,
- Canned or jarred fruit and vegetable preserves,
- Fresh pasta,
- Pre-cooked pasta - fresh,
- Fresh, chilled potato gnocchi,
- Bread - made exclusively from the following ingredients: wheat flour, water, yeast or baking powder, salt,
- Pain courant français,
- Pre-packaged preparations of fresh minced meat and meat preparations to which ingredients other than additives or salt have been added.
Specifications for buffered vinegar have been drawn up. These are included in the annex to Regulation (EU) No 231/2012.
Clean label
There is a trend to avoid E-numbers and replace them with innovative extracts or derivatives of nutrients that also have the same function as the additive. However, avoiding E-numbers by using non-approved nutrients is not permitted. The European Commission and the member states have confirmed in the additives working group that these so-called clean label ingredients meet the definition of an additive and may only be used following official approval as an additive.
As a result, buffered vinegar was no longer permitted as a clean label ingredient. In March 2021, an application was submitted to the Commission for approval to use buffered vinegar as a preservative and acidity regulator in food.
The use and specifications of buffered vinegar are set out in Regulation 2023/2086. This regulation enters into force on 18 October 2023.
